Name: salamander
Difficulty: 12
Base level: 8
Base experience: 148
Speed: 12
Base AC: -1
Base MR: 0
Alignment: -9
Frequency: Very rare, only in Gehennom
Genocidable: No
ATTACKS:
    Projectile as weapon, or if in range, uses melee weapon for 2d8
    Burns with fire for 1d6
    Bearhug: 2d6
    Roasted: 3d6 (scrolls, potions and spellbooks may also be affected)
Weight: 1500
Nutritional value: 400
Size: medium
Resistances: fire, sleep
Resistances conveyed by eating: fire

A salamander has the torso of a man atop the body of a great snake. It has a thick hide. It is poisonous if eaten.

For hundreds of years, many people believed that salamanders were magical. In England in the Middle Ages, people thought that fire created salamanders. When they set fire to damp logs, dozens of the slimy creatures scurried out. The word salamander, in fact, comes from a Greek word meaning "fire animal".
Salamanders, by Cherie Winner